Film

Trumpet / on Blue Note since 2011

"The thing that attracts me to a musician is the fact that they are an artist. It’s the changing, it’s the evolution, it’s the willingness to throw everything out of the window in search of something new."

www.ambroseakinmusire.com

www.bluenote.com/artists/ambrose-akinmusire

Producer, Historian, Owner of Francis Wolff Photo Collection

"Through the years, Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff developed a lot of very, very strong friendships among the musicians. I remember Bobby Hutcherson saying, they never seemed like outsiders, they didn’t play an instrument and they had heavy German accents, but they were just one of us."

www.mosaicrecords.com

Saxophone / on Blue Note from 1952 to 1974

“Without Blue Note you probably would have never heard of Monk. Cause the big companies, they wouldn't record Monk. He was around - they wouldn't record him. But Alfred (Lion) did.”

loudonaldson.com

www.bluenote.com/artists/lou-donaldson

Piano / on Blue Note since 2003

“Most of the great art comes out of messed up situations. You just need something to, you know, to be released from that, you know what I mean, to go somewhere. That’s where jazz is born out of. Hip hop was born out of that. So that’s what we have to still do today.”

www.robertglasper.com

www.bluenote.com/artists/robert-glasper

Piano / on Blue Note from 1962 to 1969

"What they were searching for was to get the heart of the individuals creating the music to have a platform for expression. And that heart is affected by the times. Because we were living in it."

www.herbiehancock.com

www.bluenote.com/artists/herbie-hancock

Bass / on Blue Note since 2013

"Never at a point do I hear the music and hear them being defeated. Somehow, regardless of whatever they were fighting with, they’re going down in history creating something that influenced my life in a way where I felt freedom. Where it brought me joy, where it made me wanna write music that gave people hope."

derrickhodge.com

www.bluenote.com/artists/derrick-hodge

Vocals, Piano/ on Blue Note since 2001

"The reason I love being on this label is because I’ve always felt like I had that freedom – to make my own music and do whatever I want and I don’t feel confined by the restrictions of the jazz genre."

www.norahjones.com

www.bluenote.com/artists/norah-jones

Sound Engineer

"Jazz is starting to reach back to the younger audiences and I feel like Rob [Robert Glasper] is a big part of that. Because of his ability to incorporate hip hop."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qmillion

Guitar / on Blue Note since 2008

"I have no idea how I’m gonna start and how I’m gonna finish this. Completely open. I think that’s the beauty of this music. Getting in the unknown zone."

www.bluenote.com/artists/lionel-loueke

Musician, Hip Hop Producer

"Blue Note is the past, present and the future. It’s always doing something different, it’s always turning on the next generation to something that could change their life."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrace_Martin

A Tribe Called Quest

"Blue Note Records became the go to. What we were discovering is that the jazz records had a lot of open break sections, a lot of solo sections. And not only for the drummer, but for all of the players. They had their moments and I think that was the beauty of discovering jazz."

www.alishaheed.com

Drums / on Blue Note since 2005

"Being an African-American, the music itself was a special statement and it is a special statement. To me jazz represents um freedom in two different kind of ways. You can be an individual inside of the music, but still helping with the whole."

kendrickscott.com

www.bluenote.com/artists/kendrick-scott

Saxophone / on Blue Note since 1964

"When we were in the studio at that time, in the 60s, we questioned whether or not what we were doing would be heard, what effect would it have 20 years from then? Will it do anything in the world, will it create some kind of value? The kind of value you can’t put a price on."

www.bluenote.com/artists/wayne-shorter

Sax, on Blue Note since 2015

"A lot of this music has to do with how we feel about America and how we came from seeming to progress to going back to an era that we fought to get away from. A lot of that feeling, that kind of frustration, is in the music along with all the hopeful stuff. The music is only a tool to express what’s inside."

marcusstrickland.com

www.bluenote.com/artists/marcus-strickland

Sound engineer

"It was my parents’ home, and I was allowed to use the living room to record my jazz music. They allowed me to put a control room window in one of the walls to the living room. And I brought all the equipment in there to record my jazz music."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudy_Van_Gelder

Producer, President Blue Note Records

"If I really am experiencing something difficult uh I’ll put on Speak No Evil and that’s as good as meditation. A neurologist would probably not be able to find the difference between meditation and focusing on Speak No Evil. And I always feel better, always feel refreshed, always remember who I am. That’s – that’s a pretty amazing service to provide for people." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Was